Iron and steel production processes
The iron and steel industry is the largest energy consuming manufacturing sector in the world. In 1990, its
global energy consumption was estimated to be 18-19 exajoules (EJ), or 10-15% of the annual world
industrial energy consumption (WEC, 1995). The associated CO2 emissions are estimated to be 1425 Mt
(De Beer et. al., 1999). In 1995 this amount increased to 1442 Mt CO2, equalling about 7% of global
anthropogenic CO2 emissions1. When mining and transportation of ore and coal are included, this share is
near 10% of total emissions. Fossil fuel combustion is the primary source of GHG emissions from iron and
steel production and energy costs represent 15-20% of steel manufacturing costs